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Commission – General
3 May 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)May 2024: Commission News | President's letter
Letter from the President: May 2024 It has been a challenging time, with the tragic events at Bondi and Wakeley casting a sombre shadow. It's imperative that we condemn these acts of violence in the strongest possible terms and work together to ensure such tragedies do not occur again. The aftermath of these attacks has sparked heated debate in the media about the right to free speech, and… -
Children's Rights
25 August 2023Media ReleaseNational Children’s Commissioner slams ‘shocking’ new Qld youth justice laws
The National Children’s Commissioner has expressed alarm at the Queensland Government rushing through legislation to allow children to be detained indefinitely in adult detention facilities, in a further contravention of the Queensland Human Rights Act. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Symbolic change or substantive reform
The difference between symbolic change and substantive reform in the context of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and the Australian Constitution. -
International
10 January 2024VideoHow a milestone human rights document came to be
It is considered one of the most important documents ever written in human history. But how did the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shape Australia, and what does it still mean for us today? In part two of our video series commemorating its 75th anniversary, we look at the Declaration's inception. Learn more about our series here. -
Children's Rights
4 March 2024Submission
Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity
Learn more about the human right to climate change and the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023. -
Rights and Freedoms
3 May 2024Opinion pieceWe need debate on sensible limits on free speech
When president Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the 1941 State of the Union address he spoke of four essential human freedoms people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy. The very first of these was freedom of speech and expression. Free speech was listed first because it is the bedrock of democracy. Salman Rushdie famously described it as “the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is… -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Making rights a reality: the need for a Human Rights Act for Australia
This presentation, on International Human Rights Day, advances the case for a Human Rights Act for Australia, reflecting on experiences during COVID and the difference a Human Rights Act may have made. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
7 June 2024Speech
AIATSIS Summit: Plenary Panel Discussion
Address by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss to AIATSIS Summit 2024. -
Technology and Human Rights
6 May 2024Opinion pieceProtecting Free Speech Doesn’t Mean Dismissing Online Safety
This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, appeared in The Australian on Monday 29 April 2024. When President Roosevelt gave the 1941 State of the Union Address he spoke of four essential human freedoms that people ‘everywhere in the world’ ought to enjoy. The very first of these was freedom of speech and expression. Free speech was listed first because it is the… -
Rights and Freedoms
22 March 2024Speech
The AHRC’s model for a Human Rights Act for Australia
ANU and Amnesty International Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL FRSA FACLM(Hon) [ Check against delivery] I would like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the traditional custodians of the land on which I am speaking today and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and to any First Peoples attending. The Australian Human Rights Commission, as… -
Commission – General
27 July 2023Speech
A new national human rights framework for Australia
Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL FRSA FACLM(Hon) delivered this speech at The Annual Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Conference on 21 July 2023. Overview The Australian Human Rights Commission is reaching the conclusion of its Free and Equal project, identifying what the national system for protecting human rights should be in Australia. In this keynote, President Croucher… -
Legal
22 March 2024SpeechProbate and Lunatics: A Curious Cameo of Supreme Court History
ANZOA meeting Perspectives on Fairness Meeting of the Minds Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM President, Australian Human Rights Commission Acknowledgment I would like to begin my presentation by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land where I am delivering my presentation today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to the elders, past, present and… -
Commission – General
14 March 2024Speech
Perspectives on Fairness
ANZOA meeting Meeting of the Minds Acknowledgment I would like to begin my presentation by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land where I am delivering my presentation today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to the elders, past, present and emerging. I would like to thank Janine Young, Energy & Water Ombudsman, NSW and current Chair of ANZOA, for… -
Commission – General
13 March 2023Opinion piece
A national Human Rights Act needs to be introduced in Australia
Opinion piece by Commission President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, first published in the Canberra Times. -
Children's Rights
15 November 2022News story
Governments must urgently address youth justice crisis
The Australian Human Rights Commission calls on all Australian governments to urgently address the national crisis in youth justice to prevent further harm to children in detention, and to reduce youth offending through effective systems of support. -
Sex Discrimination
30 November 2021SpeechLaunch of Set the Standard
Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins launches “Set the Standard” report aims to improve safety and respect in Australian parliamentary workplaces. -
LGBTIQ+
15 August 2023Media ReleaseCommission welcomes resolution in Census inclusion complaint
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) today welcomes the resolution of a discrimination complaint brought against the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) over the 2021 Census. The complaint, filed with the AHRC by community organisation Equality Australia and individual April Long, argued that the survey failed to ask meaningful questions to properly count members of the LGBTIQA+ -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
13 September 2022Media Release
First Nations women to take leading role in addressing family and community violence
An important gathering of First Nations women – including specialist experts, researchers, frontline workers and women with lived experience of violence – has called on governments across Australia to ensure First Nations women lead all future efforts to prevent violence against First Nations women and children. On Monday the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Women’s Safety Policy Forum was held online,… -
Age Discrimination
20 December 2023SubmissionAustralia Post Services Modernisation
The Australian Human Rights Commission provided this submission to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (the Department) regarding the modernisation of Australian postal services. The Commission did this in response to the ‘ Postal Services Modernisation: Discussion Paper’. While recognising the need for modernisation of postal… -
8 April 2022Conciliation register
2020-10-06
The complainant’s son has autism and has an assistance dog. She alleged the respondent motel refused her booking on the basis that it does not allow pets or animals in the motel. The motel confirmed it did not accept animals and agreed to participate in conciliation to try to resolve the complaint. The complaint was resolved after the motel confirmed in writing that assistance animals would…